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At the international level, a number of global instruments provide mechanisms to facilitate addressing today's challenges. Two of which are the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT-PGRFA) and it's supporting component, the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Global Plan of Action), which was adopted by the Pacific Island Countries along with other members of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) in 1996 through the Leipzig Declaration.

Social and biophysical dimensions of ecosystems are inextricably related such that a change in one dimension is highly likely to generate a change in the other. Although change is a natural consequence of complex interactions, it must be monitored and even managed if the rate and direction of change threatens to undermine system resilience.